By Bronwyn Heys, CEO – Australian Marketing Institute

As CEO of the Australian Marketing Institute, my role is to guide both our profession and its next generation of talent through transformative change. Today, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the entry-level marketing landscape. Recent research from Stanford and others reveals a troubling trend: early‑career roles are declining, while senior and experienced marketers remain resilient.

AI’s Disruption of Entry‑Level Roles

A landmark Stanford Digital Economy Lab study, Canaries in the Coal Mine?, has flagged early‑career workers, especially those aged 22‑25 in AI‑exposed fields such as marketing, software development, and customer service, for significant employment decline. Since late 2022, such positions have seen a relative drop in hiring, even as older workers in those same categories see growth.

This isn’t isolated to one geography. In the UK, graduate job postings have fallen sharply year‑over‑year, with sectors like marketing experiencing some of the steepest declines. From major business outlets to graduate surveys, early‑career candidates describe painstaking searches, hundreds of applications, met with AI‑powered screening barriers, and a hiring process increasingly driven by personal networks.

Why Entry‑Level Marketing Roles Are Shrinking

Two forces are in motion:

1. Automation: AI is taking over routine, codified tasks such as writing copy outlines, basic analytics and template creation. These areas once considered the starting point for junior marketers.
2. Experience and Knowledge Advantage: Experienced professionals bring human judgment, strategic context, and relationship‑building abilities, as I have said before these are elements AI can’t replicate. These qualities are now more valued than ever, preserving senior roles while making entry‑level positions more scarce.

The Risk of a Broken Career Ladder

This erosion threatens the pipeline of future talent. Without sufficient entry‑level opportunities, we risk hollowing out the profession’s foundation. This will lead to reducing opportunities for mentorship, professional growth, and diversity in marketing talent.

A Path Forward: Strategic Interventions

As AMI, we have an urgent mandate:

• Advocate for Entry‑Level Recalibration: Encourage employers to rethink early roles not as trivial tasks but as learning experiences with significant value.
• Champion AI‑Augmented Pathways: Embrace AI‑supported mentorship, project‑based on‑ramps, apprenticeships and structured programs to rebuild the bridge to market readiness.
• Elevate AI & Tacit‑Skill Literacy: Encourage emerging marketers to get fluent in AI while cultivating strategic thinking, empathy, brand storytelling, and client engagement, essential competencies AI cannot substitute.
• Invest Locally, Think Globally: Co‑design pathways with universities and employers that preserve learning, mentorship and experience even as automation grows.

Why Senior Roles Endure and What That Means

Senior marketers are maintaining or even expanding their footing because organisations are placing a premium on experience, context, and stakeholder influence. AI increases the value of leaders who can set direction, orchestrate teams, and translate insight into commercial outcomes.

AMI’s Role: Building Tomorrow’s Marketing Talent

Here’s our leadership agenda:

Thought leadership: Publish data and visual summaries showing the decline in entry‑level roles and provide insight on the changing shape of marketing roles.

Member advisories: Equip marketing leaders with frameworks to maintain entry‑level opportunities, even if those roles look different. We can help to support what the team of tomorrow and AI tools look like.

Partnerships: Align with education providers, providing insight to upskill on AI, Emerging Marketers programs to mentor those junior in career on this transition.

Bridge programs: Provide ongoing training by senior marketers using AI tools ensuring that all marketers are relevant and proficient.

Conclusion

AI presents both disruption and opportunity. Entry‑level marketing roles are under strain, but this shift compels us to design more durable, inclusive, and strategically rich pathways for career development. As senior leaders we will all have a role to provide stewardship of this transition and ensure marketing continues to be both resilient and welcoming to new talent.